Since ancient times, cooking certain items has presented challenges. Items that tend to break apart during the cooking process present one of those challenges, such as poultry that is baked in the oven. One solution for poultry pertains to using a truss.
To truss means to secure poultry into a compact shape. To truss poultry with string, a user generally uses the following procedure                take a piece of butcher's string about three times the length of the bird        place the bird on its back, with the tail end nearest to the user        slide the string underneath so that it is cradling the bird in the center of its back        gently pull the string up the sides, then around the wings of the bird        pull the strings towards the user, close to the breast of the bird, so that the wings are held against the body of the bird        cross the strings at the base of the breast of the bird        wrap each string around the end of a drumstick        tie the ends of the string together, cinching it tightly so that the legs cross        lift the bird so that the tail end is up and wrap the string around the tail        tie the string, pulling tightly so that the cavity is covered by the tail        place the bird on its back again        bring the string back to the front        tie the string off        the bird is now ready for the ovenAs can be seen by the above procedure, this is a complicated and time-consuming process.        
One way that others have tried to solve this problem is by creating a series of straight skewer style metal pins that are placed from one side of the cavity through the skin of the fowl bridging across to the other side of the cavity and through the skin on that side. This is done multiple times with multiple skewers in parallel fashion to each other all the way down the cavity opening. Then, a string is woven back and forth around the back side of the pin and crisscrossing over the cavity to the other side of the same pin and down to the next and so on and so on until the entire cavity has been done in this way. As the user weaves the string the user pulls tight the cavity. The user ties off the string at the end and is finished. Once the fowl is cooked, the user removes the apparatus by cutting the string and locating all the pins and pulling them out one by one.
A second way others have tried to solve this problem is to use a large needle and string to sew the cavity closed.
A third way that has been tried is to create a length of spiraled stainless steel wire that is used like a screw. The user pokes through the skin using the point on the spiral device and weaves back and forth to capture both sides of the skin and twist the skin closed.
Known art related to a poultry lacer device includes the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,842,443, issued to Rice et al. on Jul. 8, 1958, discloses a poultry product in which the fowl can be compressed into a shape amenable to uniform packaging.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,515, issued to Volk on Dec. 3, 1963, discloses a retainer or yoke which engages the folded legs of dressed poultry in such a manner that they are prevented from separating from each other and from moving away from the body of the fowl and eliminates the necessity of having to sew up the bird after stuffing the same.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,002, issued to Maxon et al. on May 4, 1976, discloses a method of trussing a poultry carcass including folding the neck skin over the back of the carcass, placing the central part of a cord over the neck skin and passing the end portions of the cord over the wings, about the body, under the keel and back on the other side of the body, tieing the cord over the neck skin. A modified trussing method includes making a slit in the skin of the body of the carcass, tucking the end of the humerus section of the wing into this slot and, if desired, binding the wing section in position by placing a cord over the wing section, suitably over the body skin covering the end of this section.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,977, issued to Volk et al. on Oct. 12, 1981, discloses a poultry leg retainer formed of a single elongated piece of material that is limitedly resiliently deformable, has a central U-shaped portion adapted to fit in the creases of poultry hocks with extensions to substantially right angle bends with outwardly extending shoulders curving through substantially 90° in a plane inclined to the central portion and to the extensions with hooked legs depending from the shoulders to more positively grip and secure poultry legs to the carcass while admitting of bagging trussed fowl without puncture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,880, issued to Volk on Jan. 26, 1993, discloses a method and apparatus for trussing a turkey carcass is provided wherein the skin of the carcass is slit on either side of the evisceration cavity, exposed hocks are pushed through each of the slits, the hocks are pulled toward each other until they are adjacent and a cap is applied over the hocks to hold them together. In this fashion, a portion of the skin of the carcass is used to hold and anchor the hocks downwardly against the carcass.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,241, issued to Volk on Jan. 10, 1995, discloses a poultry hock truss for use with a body of eviscerated poultry having hocks and comprising a unitary substantially coplanar thin plastic member. The plastic member includes an anchor element adapted for attachment to the body of eviscerated poultry. A pair of side portions extends upwardly and outwardly from the anchor element and terminate in inwardly curved upper ends. An upper transverse crosspiece joins the inwardly curved upper ends of the side portions and a tab portion depends approximately from the midpoint of the upper transverse crosspiece toward the anchor element. The upper transverse crosspiece, the tab portion, the side portions and the anchor element define a generally heart-shaped opening with first and second juxtaposed lobes. The lobes of the heart-shaped opening are formed to hold the hocks together in juxtaposition.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,519, issued to Volk on Jan. 18, 1994, discloses a flat, relatively rigid truss is disclosed which is useful for retaining hocks of dressed chicken hocks, which are more flexible than dressed turkey hocks, for example. A lower crosspiece has outward extending hooks which lock into the kidney cavity of the carcass. Outward upward slanted sides are connected by curves to a top traverse crosspiece. The upper and lower edges of the top crosspiece diverge at the center to form an opening for attachment of tags for weight, price, inspection data, cooking instructions and the like. The lower and upper crosspieces and sides define an enlarged opening to receive the hocks and tail of the chicken. The hocks fit into the insides of the curves at the intersections on the sides and top cross piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,905, issued to Marchese on Oct. 6, 1998, discloses a kit for identifying a cooking process applied to poultry includes color coded elastic loops having a polyester and cotton fabric sleeve which is color coded and correlated with the process applied to the poultry.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,744, issued to Pritsker on Jan. 25, 2000, discloses a poultry retainer for retaining poultry has a strap for closing the rear opening of the poultry and a piercing member for piercing the skin and holding the skin over the front opening to close the front opening. The poultry retainer also includes a base having first and second pieces which are slidably connected together to provide an adjustable distance between the strap and piercing member for accommodating varying size poultry. Wing holders and a leg clip draw the wings and legs toward the body of the poultry to reduce drying of the wings and legs during cooking.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2005/0241116 A1, inventors Stewart et al. published on Nov. 3, 2005, discloses an adjustable bundling device is that aids in the cinching and un-cinching of one or more items, such as the wrapping of food items in preparation for cooking. A cavity element and a stop element are attached to opposing ends of a length of flexible textured cord. The cord can be pushed through the cavity to form a loop that can hold various items. The loop can be tightened and loosened by sliding the cord within the cavity. The texture of the cord interacts with protrusions in the cavity to lock the cord in place. The cavity acts a type of clench and the end stop prevents the cord from slipping all the way out of the cavity.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not utilize or disclose a poultry lacer having a textured cinching cord with a corresponding gripper for tightening that cord on one end and a sharp needle element on the other end.
Therefore, a need exists for a poultry lacer device with these attributes and functionalities. The poultry lacer device according to embodiments of the invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art. It can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved poultry lacer device which can be used commercially. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills these objectives.
The foregoing patent and other information reflect the state of the art of which the inventors are aware and are tendered with a view toward discharging the inventors' acknowledged duty of candor in disclosing information that may be pertinent to the patentability of the present invention. It is respectfully stipulated, however, that the foregoing patent and other information do not teach or render obvious, singly or when considered in combination, the inventors' claimed invention.